Payroll disaster: Queensland sues IBM

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blog The Queensland Government has been threatening to sue technology giant IBM over the Queensland Health payroll systems debacle for years, and who could blame it? A project which ran over budget to the tune of a billion dollars and still doesn’t completely work? That was awarded to IBM following a procurement process filled with irregularities? Sounds like a logical lawsuit, right? Well, the only problem is that the former Labor Government actually already settled with IBM over the issue due several years ago to the need to get the system up and running. Despite this, the LNP administration in Queensland confirmed overnight that it had taken IBM to court. The Financial Review and a number of other publications tells us (we recommend you click here for the full article):

“A spokesman for Queensland Premier Campbell Newman confirmed on Thursday night a statement of claim had been lodged in the Supreme Court to seek compensation for the failure of the health payroll system, which is expected to cost taxpayers up to $1.2 billion.”

Obviously Premier Campbell Newman’s legal team feels it has now found a way to target IBM legally over the payroll systems implementation, despite the prior agreement with the previous Labor administration. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out in court — and I would also say that with the legal action pending, one would have to assume that the Queensland Government won’t be repealing its ban on departments and agencies using IBM for any other services. Bad news all around for Big Blue.

Image credit: Capcom/Nintendo (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney video game)

3 COMMENTS

  1. arrh queensland – cash strapped place where they will drop tens of millions in legal costs to win millions back!

  2. This seems like a habit of QLD health, and it always seems to boil down to poor communication of requirements and poor oversight.

    Last time QLD Health attempted this, they just settled. I think the same is going to happen again here.

    I seriously think QLD health is run by complete muppets who know nothing about managing projects.

  3. Just a bankrupt State Government trying to distract the electorate and wasting money they claim not to have.

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